OBJECTIVES To evaluate tear levels of neuromediators in patients with dry eye disease and to identify statistical correlations with the clinical findings. METHODS Nineteen patients with dry eye disease (Sjögren syndrome, n = 5 patients; non-Sjögren syndrome, n = 10; and ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, n = 4) and 12 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The eyes of all participants were evaluated b...

In recent years, the prevalence of dry eye has been on the rise due to an ageing global population, increased usage of medication and environment irritants. Current available treatments for dry eye include artificial eye drops, artificial tear ointment, vitamin A ointment, special eyewear, antiautoimmunity drugs and lacrimal punctum occlusion. However, these treatments have limited effects. The...

Dry eye is a common eye disease, and suitable animal models are indispensable for investigating the pathogenesis and developing treatments for dry eye. The present study was conducted to develop an androgen deficiency dry eye model induced by finasteride, and to evaluate ocular surface status and inflammatory cytokine gene expression in the lacrimal gland using a cytokine antibody array system....

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence and duration of extended blinks ≥ 70 msec and their associated interblink intervals in normal subjects and in subjects with mild to moderate dry eye. METHODS This single-center, prospective, double-blind study included 11 subjects with dry eye and eight subjects with normal eyes. Extended blinks were defined as lid closure...

PURPOSE To examine tear film, contact lens, medical, and patient-related factors associated with self-reported contact lens-related dry eye. METHODS Four hundred fifteen contact lens wearers were recruited and enrolled in this phase of a larger cross-sectional study. A variety of tear film (e.g., interferometry, osmolality, phenol red thread, meibography, fluorescein, and lissamine green stai...

PURPOSE To evaluate a new method of measuring ocular exposure in the context of a natural blink pattern through analysis of the variables tear film breakup time (TFBUT), interblink interval (IBI), and tear film breakup area (BUA). METHODS The traditional methodology (Forced-Stare [FS]) measures TFBUT and IBI separately. TFBUT is measured under forced-stare conditions by an examiner using a st...

PURPOSE To report the resolution of symptoms and signs of chronic dry eye for at least 1 year after completion of a minimum 6-month course of topical 0.05% cyclosporine in a subgroup of patients from 2 practices. DESIGN Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS Eight patients who had had chronic dry eye disease for 3 to 20 years were treated with topical cyclosporine for 6 to 72 months, and t...

PURPOSE To investigate influences of 3% diquafosol sodium ophthalmic solution (DQS) on ocular surface after cataract surgery and effects on postoperative dry eye. DESIGN This study had two consecutive prospective study phases. The former was an observational study from before cataract surgery to 4 weeks after surgery and the latter was a randomized open-label study from 4 to 8 weeks after sur...

Dry eye is a common chronic ocular condition that significantly reduces the quality of life of afflicted individuals. As well as a frequent cause of ocular irritation, dry eye can lead to visual disability, and may compromise the results of corneal, cataract, and refractive surgery. The average cost to US society of managing dry eye has been estimated at $55.4 billion. Dry eye disease encompass...

PURPOSE To determine new referents, or cutoff levels for tear film hyperosmolarity in the diagnosis of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) and to assess their effectiveness in independent patient groups. METHOD A meta-analysis was performed on published data for tear osmolarity in samples of normal eyes and various subtypes of dry eye, and pooled estimates of the mean and standard deviations for...